The economics of smart green

When designing green homes, the challenge is trying to decide how much you should spend on green technologies.

At Vereco, we design smart green homes that balance the smart (economics) with the green (sustainability). We treat each green technology as an investment. We only implement technologies that provide a positive return on investment.

We always try to optimize your investment in green tecnologies.

A good example is an LED light bulb. Today, you can purchase a 60w incandescent light bulb with a life expectancy of 1,000 hours for about $1 or you can buy the equivalent 12w LED bulb with a life expectancy of 40,000 hours for $12. Which is the better investment?

Lets assume that you are using the lightbulb 4 hours per day.

At 4 hours a day, the LED will last 10,000 days or just over 27 years. During that same time period, you would have to change the incandescent light bulb approximately every 9 months or 40 times in the 27 years. So, at today’s prices, the incandescent light bulb would actually cost $40 over the 27 years while the LED will cost $12 once. Total savings of $28 on the cost of the LED vs the incandescent bulbs.

The LED uses 12 watts per hour or 48 watt-hours per day. In 27 years the LED bulb will burn 473,000 watt hours (473kWh) of electricity. The incandescent bulb burns 60 watts per hour or 240 watt-hours per day. In the same 27 years, the incandescent will burn 2,365,000 watt hours (2,365kWh) of electricity. In Saskatchewan, electricity currently costs nearly $.13/kWh so at today's prices, the LED with use $61.49 of electricity and the incandescent will use $307.45. Total energy savings are $245.96.

Although the LED bulb costs more at first, it actually saves you $274:
Incandescent LED SavingsCost of bulb(s) $ 40 $12 $28
Cost of energy $307 $61 $246
Total Cost $347 $73 $274

We use the same approach to decide on other green technologies like the amount of insulation to put in your walls, how much you should spend on upgrading windows, etc.

For more information on how on smart green homes check out www.vereco.ca.